1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storing credit on a value card, gift card, smartcard or cellular phone and more particularly to a system and method for putting credit on such a card or phone rather than accepting coin change from a coin dispenser or clerk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over 354 billion cash transactions for less than $5 occur per year in the USA. Nearly all of these involve the nearly worthless currency that a cashier fumbles to get out of a drawer or that a change dispenser dispenses. The customer many times loses the change or really doesn't care about it. In fact, it can be a nuisance. The businesses that are required to give change are hassled with continuously having to restock numerous pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
Value cards, gift cards, smartcards and cellular phones are known in the art. Numerous cards can store value either directly on the card or through an associated account. Also known in the art is a coin change dispenser attached to a cash register or Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal. Various companies manufacture such coin change dispensers under names such as T-Flex and Transact2+.
It would be very advantageous to have a system and method for putting coin change value from a POS terminal, cash register or clerk onto a value card or cellular phone rather than actually receiving coins.
Older coin dispensers were completely mechanical with at most a relay control line, modern devices designed for electronic cash registers and POS terminals use a serial signal line usually under the electrical standard known as RS-232 or RS232C. In these electronic systems, a serial data signal is sent from the cash register to the coin dispenser when a clerk enters the amount rendered by the customer and closes the transaction. The total amount of change due the customer appears on the POS screen, and the clerk gives the larger change in bills. Upon the push of a button on the POS terminal, a serial data signal is sent to the coin dispenser containing the remaining amount of change to give and a command to dispense it. The coin dispenser usually contains a microprocessor that then translates this into quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies to operate relays or solenoids on coin chutes. Some systems can even realize that a particular chute is empty and sometimes substitute other coins (for example if the dimes chute is empty, the device may be able to dispense two nickels instead).
U.S. published Patent Application number 2007/0084909 teaches a modern versions of a coin-dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,551 shows the type of coin dispenser typically found at POS terminals.
In addition, there are many types of value cards in use today. Some are specialized to certain businesses, such as coffee cards, copier cards, telephone cards and the like, while others can be used universally. Sometimes these cards contain the value directly on the card (such as copier cards). This type of card can many times be re-charged simply by adding value to it either directly at a retail outlet or online with a credit card. Other times, the card simply relates to an account kept on a server or remote computer. Some of these cards only have magnetic strips, while others have micro-controllers on them.
Cards that contain actual value may or may not have protection against theft or loss. Most simple cards like copier cards do not; more sophisticated smart cards my have encrypted data or a key mechanism stored on the card that prevents unauthorized use.
As previously stated, receiving money change in the form of coins is also sometimes a nuisance since coins cannot be cleared through metal detectors, often they accumulate in piggy banks, jars or other collecting devices until they have to be deposited in a bank. But, then without counting devices, the coins have to be bundled then turned into a bank or other savings institution. Also, frequently coins are simply lost.
It would be very advantageous to have a system and method for putting coin change from a POS terminal, cash register or clerk onto a value card or cellular phone rather than actually receiving coins. This would have a double advantage: 1) the user (and especially the traveler) would be relieved of having to carry pockets of loose change; and 2) the card could be an incentive to return to a particular store to redeem the stored value.